Or to put it another way: There seem to be nearly as many misperceptions about our organization as there are about the complex issue of homelessness itself. This section is designed to take care of the former. For help with the latter, check out Resources.
Who We Are and What We Do
How We Do It
Coalition Projects
Contact information:
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Weekly Housing First for Families campaign committee meetings take place
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The Coalition on Homelessness (COH) was formed in 1987 to foster the active participation of homeless and low-income San Franciscan residents and front-line staff in the struggle for economic and social justice. Through an integrated approach that combines outreach, peer support, leadership development, public education, advocacy, and community organizing, COH works to defend homeless and low-income people from attacks on their rights and their persons, while advocating for permanent solutions to homelessness that take into account not only poverty's devastating effects, but also its root causes.
Extensive peer outreach is at the heart of everything we do: We do not bring our agendas to poor and homeless people; they bring their agendas to us, and our efforts on their behalf (on both personal and political fronts) are shaped by their input.
The Coalition encompasses the following five workgroups:
These workgroups foster collaboration among homeless people, concerned community members, and providers of social, health care, housing, employment, and legal services, to address the needs identified in the outreach systematically and effectively. Coalition workgroups are de facto educational as well as social communities; members can act as teacher, learner, or both by turn, sharing individual strengths to increase their combined capabilities. Homeless and low-income people seeking to advance their office skills can enjoy on-the-job training while working at the Coalition office, and additional educational and leadership development opportunities are available through affiliated courses and organizations.
Civil Rights and Youth
Civil Rights and Youth works to defend the civil and human rights of homeless people by linking ongoing street outreach with organizing, advocacy, and legal strategies. The project addresses inequities through participatory legal and policy initiatives, while at the same time promoting a pro-active agenda whose goal is to eliminate civil rights abuses against homeless people, and in particular, those against homeless minors, who are particularly vulnerable to systemic rights abuses.
Weekly organizing meetings take place
Mondays 1 PM - 3 PM @ 468 Turk Street
Phone: (415) 346 3740, ext. 318
email: civilrights@sf-homeless-coalition.org
staff organizer: LS Wilson
Community Health Equity and Economic Rights (CHEER)
Community Health Equity and Economic Rights (CHEER) was formed to confront San Francisco's dismal record in the provision of vital health care services that address substance abuse and mental health needs. The goals of CHEER are to reform existing treatment services and to ensure people's rights within them, as well as to expand these desperately needed services citywide.
Monthly organizing meetings take place
Every third Wednesday of the month 5 PM - 7 PM
@ 2940 16th St. (@ Capp), Suite 323
Phone: (415) 346 3740 ext.315
email: cheer@sf-homeless-coalition.org
staff organizer: James Chionsini
Families and Immigrants (FAIM)
Families and Immigrants (FAIM) seeks to unify homeless people of all races while forcing policymakers to focus on the two segments of the homeless population that they tend to forget: families with children and undocumented immigrants. This powerful alliance is currently working on a campaign titled ¡Housing First! For Homeless families that seeks to ensure housing for ALL homeless families, regardless of immigration status or credit history.
Weekly organizing meetings take place
Mondays at 12 PM @ 2940 16th Street, Suite 323
Thursdays at 12:30 P.M. @ 468 Turk Street
Phone: (415) 861 7419
email: faim@sf-homeless-coalition.org
staff organizer: Miguel Carrera
Right to a Roof (R2aR)
Right to a Roof (R2aR) organizes homeless people currently within the shelter system to work toward creating permanently affordable housing in San Francisco, while ensuring that people's human rights are respected as long as they reside within the shelter system. This group utilizes both traditional and alternative means to get people housed, working to revise the policies that govern allocation of existing City housing units, as well as to identify surplus city-owned properties and champion their conversion into additional housing.
Weekly organizing meetings take place
Mondays at 4 PM @ 468 Turk Street
Phone: (415) 346 3740, ext. 314
email: r2ar@sf-homeless-coalition.org
staff organizer: Bianca Henry
STREET SHEET
STREET SHEET is a monthly tabloid written primarily by homeless and formerly homeless people that provides its readers with a perspective on homelessness that mainstream media simply cannot match. It provides a unique opportunity to its vendors as well: a dignified alternative to panhandling. The STREET SHEET (cover price $1) is given free to qualified poor and homeless San Franciscans, who get to retain 100% of the proceeds from their sales. Last year, the paper celebrated its 15th anniversary, making it the oldest continuously published street newspaper in the world.
STREET SHEET Vendor orientations take place
Fridays 10 A.M. @ 468 Turk Street
Phone: (415) 346 3740 ext. 304
email: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org
editor: chance martin